Jilted bride sells unworn dress after fiancé dumped her for wedding planner pal

A jilted bride is selling her designer dress after her fiancé cancelled their £20,000 ceremony to hitch up with their wedding planner pal.

Donna Bettiss, 28, was devastated after James Routledge, 30, suddenly ended things last month after a seven-year relationship .

She's now listed her £1,800 Sophia Tolli 'Monte' sleeveless tulle and sequin gown on Facebook for £600 as it remains a "constant reminder" of what had happened.

Their pal Paige Hannington, 27, had offered wedding advice over cocktails after she tied the knot some months before.

But during a work trip recently, James and Paige drunkenly confessed they both weren't happy in their relationships.

James called off his wedding and began dating Paige weeks later.

Donna, from Horsham, West Sussex, said: "I really liked Paige, she helped me so much [with the wedding] so I feel completely betrayed.

"I was distraught that someone I knew and trusted and was discussing such an important time in my life with, could do that to me.

"However the way I feel now is very paranoid to discuss how amazing my relationship is with any other woman. She totally destroyed my confidence.

"When James decided she was who he wanted there was nothing I could do but let him go.

"I didn't cause them any problems or try to stop them progressing. I even saw them on a night out but I just left them to it. I wasn't going to make their night out with their friends awkward so I kept my distance and kept my friends away from saying anything to them.

"The day I let James go was the day I realised he no longer loved me and I couldn't force someone to love me or stay with me, that would be selfish.

“The dress has been at my uncle’s house until recently, but now it’s hanging in my wardrobe.

“I can’t keep it, there are too many bad memories. I desperately need it gone if I want to move forward and rebuild my life.

“Having it hanging there is a constant reminder of what happened.

“I originally listed it for £1,000 on eBay but there was no interest in the dress, so then I listed it for £600 on Facebook and wrote what my partner had done.

“Since I wrote that I’ve received lots of positive messages.”

The advert reads: “Open to offers, never worn. Wedding was cancelled due to [redacted] fiancé.

“Desperately need gone, cost me £1800, had it a year and it’s a constant reminder.

“Sophia Tolli dress size 16 never altered.”

Donna and James met in March 2011 at a nightclub in Horsham, West Sussex, and the following day Donna searched for him on social media and sent him a message.

Six months later loved-up Donna moved in with James who then proposed and presented her with a diamond cluster engagement ring.

Donna said: “I instantly fell for him and we soon spent every single day together. After a couple of months he told me how in love with me he was.

“We were both really, really happy and so madly in love – head over heels – I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.”

The pair were happily engaged and bought a two-bed end-of-terrace house where they lived together with Donna’s cat Sammie.

Bride-to-be Donna excitedly booked four-star Nutfield Priory in Redhill, Surrey, as the April 2018 wedding venue and picked her dream wedding gown, bridesmaid dresses and busied herself making hand-crafted decorations.

As Donna immersed herself in wedding planning, newly-married Paige regularly offered her wedding planning advice over cocktails.

Donna said: “The whole time from June up until November was wedding planning.

“Paige and I would meet up for a cocktail and she would give me stuff for my wedding.

“She even gave me her spreadsheets which were a massive help.

“We also did a lot of over text and Facebook and she would tag me in different things."

In September Donna picked up her designer wedding dress and said the gown, which hugged her curves, made her feel like royalty.

Donna said: “When I went to pick up the dress with my mum and tried it on I said ‘mum I feel like a princess’.

“I felt so pretty and elegant and it struck me that I really was getting married and wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

“Mum was crying and other people in the shop were welling up too.”

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